


A Simple Gift

by Twocatstoo



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-10-06 21:10:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10344636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twocatstoo/pseuds/Twocatstoo
Summary: A response to Deb’s significant birthday challenge.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Yuma, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [Stargatefan.com](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Stargatefan.com). To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [StargateFan Archive Collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/StargateFan_Archive_Collection).

A Simple Gift

##  A Simple Gift 

##### Written by Twocats   
Comments? Write to us at [twocats@onlink.net](mailto:twocats@onlink.net)

__

Many Years Ago

The office window looked out over a half rusted swing set and a summer lawn worn thin by playing feet, but Daniel Jackson didn't need to look out to know the view. He had spent many hours sitting in the same chair-from the time his feet barely reached the floor, till now when his lanky frame overhung the chair that was meant for smaller bodies. The office was crowded between the desk and boxes of children's clothes. The walls were covered with photographs of smiling babies and families. Looking around absently, Daniel could even see several of himself, each time surrounded by different adults, in front of a different house. 

"Hi Daniel. Sorry to keep you waiting." Sophie Grayson pushed the door open with her elbow, her arms filled with manila folders. Daniel jumped up to take the part of the pile that threatened to slide from her hands before she could reach the desk. "Thanks hon." She slid the remainder of the pile onto the overflowing desk and started to flip through it, looking for the thickest one.

Daniel stood helplessly looking over the section of the pile he had taken, looking for a clear space to put them down. 

"Anywhere there's a clear spot is fine." She started to open the file in front of her, her attention on the papers, and not on Daniel's struggle to find a clear surface. As he found one, and picked his way back to his chair, he couldn't help but smile. The only time he had ever seen this office clean and tidy was the first time he had been in it. That had been on Ms. Grayson's first day, nearly eight years ago.

"Well Daniel. We need to talk about what comes next." She looked up from her papers, suddenly serious. "You're 16 now." Daniel nodded; his birthday had passed with little fanfare the day before. Ellen, his foster mother, had made a special dinner and cake, and found a book on pyramids for him, even though it was one he had digested long ago. It hadn't been much of a celebration, but it was more than he had received in some years past. Daniel waited patiently, wondering where the conversation would go. Conversations in this office rarely had a happy ending.

"You know that means you're not a child anymore. You're getting to be a young man." She paused awkwardly how to tell a child that his home was about to be taken from him by state mandated rules. "We can't keep you in foster care much beyond your sixteenth birthday. The alternative is an apartment of your own, or the state would fund boarding school for you." A state-wide shortage of foster homes meant that rules left unenforced for years were being followed. After all, a boy at 16 should be old enough to make his way in the world perhaps in 1930. Daniel hung his head for a moment; another move, another new beginning, another separation. Ellen and Harvey Johnson had been good enough to keep him, an admittedly moody, bookish teenager for 4 years, his longest 'placement' to date. He took a breath and resigned himself to the inevitable.

"How soon do I have to go?" His voice was quiet, the sound of a spirit breaking slowly.

"Not right away Daniel." Sophie stalled, she herself was unsure how long she could keep Daniel's file from her own supervisors attention. "A few months or so." She ran her hand through her hair; it was days like today that were the cause of her prematurely graying hair. Coming around her desk, she put her arm around her young friend and gave him a gentle hug. He relaxed in her arms, and shyly returned the hug. A single tear ran down his cheek, spilling onto the suit that had started the morning freshly pressed, but was wrinkled with the tears and drool of too many tiny children. She pulled away softly, and made for the door, giving Daniel the privacy a nearly grown-up child deserved. "Do you want some juice?" He shook his head in the negative, looking away to the window to hide his tears. "Coffee?" The offer brought a smile to Daniel's face, it was the first time she had offered-her strict rule was juice for children, coffee for adults only. Daniel nodded-accepting the offer of the drink, and his new standing in her world. She was gone far longer than the trip to the small kitchen would have taken, giving him time to clear his eyes, and digest the news. 

When she returned, Daniel had returned to his staring out the window. The memories of when he was small enough to play on the then new swings, waiting for his first foster home, was clear in his mind. The door creaking open brought his attention back to Sophie and the mugs in her hand. He took his cup from her and sat seriously, doing his best to act worthy of his beverage. Sophie Grayson took a deep gulp of her own hot coffee and launched into the rest of the difficult conversation.

"Daniel. What grade are you in now?" She scribbled notes down into the file one-handed.

"Grade 10. I guess." Daniel shrugged his shoulder in a most self-deprecating gesture. "But I took Grade 12 stuff mostly last year, and I'm hoping they'll let me take some college courses next year." 

The Children's Welfare records had indicated Daniel was bright, very bright actually. Sophie knew Daniel had been bored through most of school, tolerating it only for the access to the library and sympathetic teachers. The happiest she had ever seen him was at 'summer school' with a local university. He would be bored beyond comprehension at the approved boarding school--populated mostly with inner city children struggling for the basics. 

Sophie smiled a moment; there were always alternatives.

"How many credits are you short for graduation?"

"I've got more than I need now." He shrugged again "You know, summer school and stuff."

"What if we could send you to university next year? Would you like that?" Sophie watched his face closely for a subtle reaction. She needn't have bothered; Daniel nodded enthusiastically. 

"We'd have to see about scholarships, and maybe there are some funds we could use to help you out. You'd have to stay in the dormitory. You wouldn't have a foster family anymore." Daniel was too bright to miss the implications of this--no one to call him, no one to send packages, and no home to go home to. A shadow crossed his face, tempering his smile. Sophie Grayson offered the only other thing she could-her dedication to, and friendship for the young man. "I think we can make this work for you, and you know Daniel, even once you're older, I'd always welcome you to visit me. Christmas and things." Daniel smiled-Sophie had been a constant in his life longer than anyone else, through all the foster parents and moves.

"Thanks Ms. Grayson." Daniel smiled shyly again, unwilling to risk too much excitement, least her plan be another broken promise. 

"Sophie, Daniel. You can call me Sophie." It was another sign of the changes of the day. "Have you given any thought to what you'd want to study?"

"Archaeology." The answer took less than a split second-no hesitation whatsoever.

"Daniel. Mr. Jackson," she laughed. "Why am I not surprised." She then ducked behind her desk, looking for something lost in the piles. 

"I have a birthday present for you--open it later okay." She surfaced with a small wrapped package and handed it across the desk. Daniel nudged his cooling coffee cup onto the last clear corner of the desk, and accepted the gift gratefully.

"Thank you." He left it unopened on his lap, pausing a moment, unsure of what came next.

"Well Daniel, I think the driver will be back for you soon." She smiled a moment, it might be the last time that Daniel needed a driver to take him home, he was old enough to learn to drive now. She'd have to speak with Harv Johnson about driving lessons, and maybe a summer job to save for a car of his own, and to speak with her friend at the university admissions office. She was soon lost in thought, jotting notes down eagerly. Daniel excused himself, clutching the wrapped present in his hand, his step the lightest she had ever seen. Daniel Jackson would be alright, after all the 'incidentals' fund of the agency had to serve some useful purpose.

Much later that night, Daniel sat alone on the back porch of the house, staring at the clear night sky. Ms. Grayson Sophie, knew him well, and Ellen had promised he could always come back and visit, even when her house was full again with new children. It hadn't been that bad a day after all. Savouring the birthday present, Daniel opened the package he had been given slowly. The paper peeled away to reveal a book. Turning it carefully over revealed the title, 'A Land'. Daniel smiled appreciatively; Jacquetta Hawkes book was a classic on archaeology. It was a well-worn copy, appreciated by other people before it had been passed to him. Daniel opened the frontispiece to reveal the only inscription; 'Daniel, To remind you that though the past is a part of each of us, we must always return to the present. Your Friend, Sophie Anne Grayson'. Daniel sat back and held the book for a long moment, enjoying the smell of the binding, and the warmth of the sentiment inside. 

 

 

__

Present Day

"Hey Daniel. Where do you want this one to go?" Jack O'Neill held up the worn book, gesturing with the other hand at the crowded bookshelf.

Daniel looked up from the box that he was unpacking, but Jack was faster. He was opening the book, curious at what book had earned so many rereadings. Daniel made an awkward leap across the empty boxes and scattered furniture, but he was too late, Jack had read the inscription.

Jack's head cocked slightly to the side, it was obvious he had stumbled into something deeply personal. He paused a moment, torn between pressing Daniel for an explanation, and just passing the book over. Daniel spared him the decision, gently taking the book from his hands, and rereading the writing for himself. 

"Sophie Grayson was a good friend." Jack smiled, Daniel's past was still mostly a mystery to him, even after he had taken his prerogative as Daniel's commanding officer, to read his personnel file.

"Not that kind of friend Jack." He paused again, smiling at the memory. "She was my social worker for a long time. She was the one who managed to use 'incidental funds' to pay most of my first year university expenses." Daniel's smile faded at the next memory." She was hit by a drunk driver a year to the day after she gave me this. I owe her a lot."

"It sounds like we all owe her a lot Danny." Jack let Daniel stay lost in remembrance for a long moment before he deliberately picked up the next box and heaved it onto the kitchen counter. "I swear Daniel, next time you move, you can hire a crane to move all your books-you'd think you were attached to them or something." Daniel tucked the book reverently into the recently reassembled bookcase and came to stand beside his friend. "I guess so, Jack. I guess so."

The End

  


* * *

>   
> © May 5, 2001  
> The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp.  
> The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters  
> who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names,   
> titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television,   
> Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd.   
> Partnership.  
> This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and   
> solely meant for entertainment.   
> All other characters, the story idea and the story itself   
> are the sole property of the author.   
> 

  


* * *

##### A response to Deb's significant birthday challenge. 

Feedback: Sure. I'm getting braver at posting, so constructive criticism won't scare me off now.

Notes: In some corners of the world, there is an unfortunate tendency to force kids out of foster care as soon as possible. I don't pretend to know American child welfare law, but sadly, this scenario is not unrealistic where I live and work. Special thanks to Pettygrew for the beta.

* * *

  



End file.
